Page:Notes of the Mexican war 1846-47-48.djvu/611

Rh of her loving face, the movements of her rosy lips, and the squeeze she gave me with her lily-white hands, made an impression upon my heart that there was something more than a welcome—i. e., love.

 "Thus let me hold to my heart, And every care resign, And shall we never, never part. Oh, than my all that's mine." Goldsmith.

Here and around this immediate neighborhood I spent the last part of my boyhood days; here, in Robinson and Hoffman school-house, so called—the latter now dim and old—where the ceiling was so low that a tall scholar had to stoop as he walked to his seat, I received the little education I am possessed of.

The romantic scenes now visible remind me of the many merry, happy days and hours I have passed in the good old times of our boyhood days. Here, when going to and from school, we used to pelt one another with snowballs—sliding on the ice and down the hills with our little sleds; its memories and recollections are ever near and dear to me, and I cannot, will not, forget them. Here the nightingale enchants you in the fine summer evening. Its picturesque scenery and the many happy hours I have passed here were frequently mingled with the dreams in camp and on the battle-fields and plains of Mexico.

We passed on, and at the same time I explained to my comrades the different points along the Juniata River, the very spot where old Fort Granville stood in 1756, the Indian mound near the locks above Lewistown, etc.

Arrived at Lewistown about 3 o'clock, By referring back to the beginning of my journal you will see that at this town I first made up my mind to enlist in Capt. William F. Small's Company (C), First Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, to serve during the war with Mexico, and it gives me pleasure to say I never regretted it.